Mid Wales residents face 4.5% council tax rise

It will mean a rise of about £49.05 for an average Band D property in Powys, with the police precept and town and community council increases yet to be added.

Despite the proposed increase, there will still need to be £9.636m cuts and the portfolio holder for finance Councillor Wynne Jones warned worse could still be yet to come.

He said Powys County Council had received a slightly improved budget from the Welsh Government this year, although they were still one of the lowest funded in Wales, but he said the extra money had come with a dire warning from Minister Mark Drakeford for some more tough budgets to come.

Councillor Jones said Powys County Council is estimating an increase in council tax for next year of 3.75 per cent and 3.75 per cent for 2019/2020.

Some of the big cuts ahead include a £500,000 cut to the highways budget, a further withdrawal from providing village hall grants to save £67,000, a review of street lighting and a greater move towards LED lights to save £100,000, raising the age of admission to school to save £873,000 and further small school closure resulting in a £120,000.

Many councillors voiced their concerns about a predicted overspend in adult social care and the proposed creation of a specific reserve of £2.75million for the department but the money will only be accessed if a certain set of criteria are reached.

There were also concerns about home to school transport costs but Councillor Jones said the council was proposing to put an extra £1 million into the education budget for 2017/18 and another £1million for the following two years, making a cumulative increase of £6 million over three years.

The full council will make the final decision on the level of council tax at a meeting at County Hall on February 23.